TMNT 2012 ONESHOTS WHAT IF SCENARIOS
by Bee bop Bee pop
Summary: A collection of one shots and what if scenarios for TMNT 2012. Enjoy!
1. Goods Nights are so Overrated

Summary: Sometimes, watching your youngest brother die is pretty terrifying. And sometimes, all you need is reassurance. (Set after the Usagi arc.)

" _I got him!" Mikey yelled, swinging his nunchucks at Jei. The wolf laughed as he dodged every single hit Mikey gave before hitting him with the blunt end of his spear. The turtle staggered back and glared, ready to attack once more. He ran forward, nunchucks already spinning as he moved, but-_

 _The spear went right through him._

 _Mikey's eyes widened as he felt intense pain shoot right through him and as he heard his name called ('Raph? Is that you?'), his eyes closed as he rolled down the hill, pushed aside as Jei brought his spear out. He finally stopped rolling as his body landed on the bottom of the hill._

 _Dead._

 _Leo, Donnie, and Raph were all wide eyed as they watched their baby brother die right in front of them. No no no no no no. They just lost their father, they can't do this, not again, not so soon-_

 _Raph yelled, filled with fury, and recklessly ran forward, sai's posed to pierce Jei right through the heart as a price for killing his brother. Jei suddenly shot out flames and Raoh wasn't ready to dodge. It hit him, engulfing him and forcing him to fall of the mountain. Leo and Donnie watched in horror as their brother fell, landing and hitting a rock head first and staying there, not groaning or moving._

 _Dead._

" _No." Leo whispers before Jei appears right behind him, hitting him with his spear and sending him rolling down the hill as well._

 _Donnie recovers from the hit and brings the blade from his staff out. He starts running towards Jei but is forced to stop as Jei lifts him from the ground._

 _Talk about Déjà vu…_

" _You cannot fathom the power of Jei." Jei's hand closes and Donnie feels as if he's being crushed by an invisible force and suddenly he's out, the bo staff falling from his hands. He falls down as Jei releases him, hitting each and every rock he could as he fell. He lands behind Mikey and Leo._

 _Dead._

 _Leo raises his head and sees his brothers not breathing or moving or even grunting._

 _Dead._

" _No." He sees Mikey's wound and oh God it's so bloody-_

" _No." He sees Raph's and Donnie's bodies as well. He raises his head to the sky and screams-_

" _No!" His voice echoes around him and he is swallowed by grief as he holds his baby brother's body and cries._

"No!" Leo yells, immediately sitting up straight before falling out of his bed and landing on the floor hard. He quickly stood up and scanned his room, expecting to suddenly see his brothers on the floor again, dead. Nothing.

' _It's just a nightmare.'_

Leo sits on his bed and sighs, hands on his head. It was a whole week since they had faced Jei. A whole week since they had helped Usagi get Kintaro to the temple. A whole week since he had seen his brothers dead. It was so terrifying and if it was the real deal-

"No. No it isn't. It will never be." Leo mutters as the small frown on his face widens. It wasn't real, no matter what anyone says. And Leo was okay with that. He would be okay a little more if unwanted memories stopped coming back too.

 _His father was falling. Falling from that high building. No one could stop it. No matter how fast he ran, no matter how much he hoped, it was pointless. They were all too late. Their father was dead and the blood, so much blood-_

 _Leo ran next to his father, no longer watching as April sent the Shredder- no, that monster- falling down the building and landing inside a garbage truck. Casey had activated it and had left the Shredder to his fate._

Leo had cried so much that day, especially because he knew that there was nothing they could do to change it now. No jokes or mysterious robots from Space sending them back six months into the past. No nothing. All they could do was bury their father and take down the monster that had taken his life. The end. That was it.

And yet, it wasn't.

The Shredder was brought back from the dead, a demon had nearly killed Mikey if not for the seal he had held, the world could have nearly ended for the hundredth time if not for the fact that Mikey had managed to figure out how to repair the seal, command a demon from another world, and basically send the dead back into their graves.

And then, their father had appeared.

As a ghost, yes, but still there. They had bid goodbye to him as he left, even when Leo could see that they didn't want him to go. As their father disappeared one last time, Leo had felt a tear get soaked by his mask, the same one his father had given to him so long ago.

Ever since the day Master Splinter had died, Leo's biggest fear had become losing another loved one die, especially if he had seen it with his own two eyes. And really, watching his brothers die one by one right in front of him was a pretty easy way to bring all the memories he had forced to the back of his head to come pouring out, slowly but steadily.

Mikey getting stabbed, the spear going right through him. Mikey falling-

-Raph falling from the mountain, hitting his head on the rocks below it-

-Donnie being lifted into the sky, being crushed as he let out one last yelp of pain. His head repeatedly hitting rocks as he fell from a place that was higher, higher than all of them-

-Master Splinter, their father, their own father, bleeding out as Leo held him close, the blood staining the wrappings on his hands-

-and it's too much. Too much. He couldn't handle it anymore. There was too much happening. He was a sensei, he had to keep his brothers out of danger, he had to make sure nothing bad happens-

-and he had failed to do all of the above.

His thoughts were scrambled, each one screaming at him, blaming him for being a failure and failing to protect his only family. Sometimes, he really wished his head would shut up at these times. It was probably too early for this.

Suddenly, Leo's door slowly opens and a small voice comes out. "Hey."

Leo looks up to see Mikey looking at him through the door, a small smile on his face. "You okay dude?"

Yup, too early for this.

"Uh, it's nothing Mikey. I'll be fine." Leo says, shrugging as he did. But that only earned a frown and narrowed eyes from Mikey that said 'I know you're lying."

"Bro, you are so lying." Mikey says as he enters the room and sits beside Leo, his tone very serious. "Your eyes are red, have you been crying or something?"

Oh. Yeah. Leo only noticed the tears that had soaked his mask, making it a darker shade of blue. Leo rubbed at his eyes, as if it would help hide the redness.

Mikey held Leo's arm and put it down, staring at him with a concerned expression. "We're worried, Leo." Mikey says softly, his expression softening as he continued to look at Leo. "You've been like this ever since we got back from Usagi's world. And as far as I can see, you are definitely not fine."

Leo sighed again, finally lowering his defenses and lowering his shoulders. "I know. It's just, ever since that whole nightmare thing Jei did, it's just…" Leo stops talking as Mikey's expression shifts into understanding.

"Dude, you do know it was just a nightmare, right?" Mikey said, placing his hand on Leo's shoulder as his expression turned into worry. "You know, as in, not real. We're still alive and we're fine and I know that saying stuff won't really change your thoughts really quick, but at least you know."

At this point, Leo's hands are shaking as he struggled not to let his emotions out. If he was going to be honest, Mikey's death was the worst. For one, he was the youngest and as the eldest brother, he was protective over him. Second, his death seemed to, in a way, last the longest. The spear had stayed inside Mikey for a while while his Donnie and Raph's were somewhat quicker. And the blood, no matter how many times he had thought of it, was the worst thing even when it was compared to the cracks Mikey's plastron had had when Leo had seen his dead body and-

"Leo. Hey, Leo. Dude, you're spacing out and you're, like, hyperventilating or something. Breathe." Mikey said as he gently shook Leo. It only worked a little though, as Leo managed to focus on Mikey's eyes. Mikey sighed. "Alright, if you're not gonna calm down on your own, then I'll do it."

Mikey suddenly grabs Leo's hand and before Leo can ask what on Earth is happening-

Leo's hand is brought right on Mikey's plastron, right where the heart should be.

It's faint, considering the fact that their shells were pretty thick in order to protect them, but Leo hears it.

 _Lub dub…Lub dub…Lub dub…_

It's Mikey's heart, beating in a calm manner.

Leo feels himself start to calm down a little and he looks up to Mikey's face. It had a small smile on it as Mikey continued to let Leo hear his heart beating. "See? I'm fine. My hearts beating, there's blood going around my body, I'm strong enough to hold your hand up. In fact, I'm feeling awesome, so stop giving me that look that says 'you're not real.', okay?"

Leo nods before letting out a quick "Okay." come. Mikey smiles and says "Follow me." before leading Leo out of his room and to the couch waiting for them.

Leo blinks.

Raph and Donnie are awkwardly sitting on the couch, sleepily leaning on to each other. Looks like Leo wasn't the only one having nightmares. Both Raph's and Donnie's eyes seem sunken, possibly from lack of sleep.

As Mikey makes it to the couch, Raph and Donnie catch sight of them. Raph smirks as Mikey orders Leo to sit on the couch and leaves the three of them together.

"So, rough night?" Raph asks.

"Yup." Leo says. "Same nightmare?" He asks both Raph and Donnie.

They both nod and all the tension in the room seems to be a little thicker.

"It was just…" Donnie starts, putting his hands together. "…so real, you know? One moment, he's just standing there trying to get to Jei, then he's suddenly he's rolling down the hill."

"Yeah." Raph says, a frown replacing the smirk on his face. "I was so mad. That monster killed him like it was nothing and he was _laughing_ while he did it. I didn't know what to do."

The three brothers stayed in silence right after that, a silent agreement on what Raph said. Mikey made it back to the couch, balancing pillows and blankets on his hands before dropping them right on top of his brothers.

Mikey rearranges all the blankets and pillows and the end result is all four brothers huddled together on the couch, pillows all around them and blankets as well. Mikey is in the center as Leo, Donnie, and Raph insisted him to.

"Isn't this awesome, guys? We're all here. _Alive_." Mikey emphasizes the last word with a huge smile to remind his brothers that their alright. That _he's_ alright and that everything would be okay.

"Hold on a minute, Mikey." Raph says, adjusting himself to fit inside the bundle of blankets more comfortably. "How are _you_ feeling?"

The smile on Mikey's face slips for a moment. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is when I woke up from that whole nightmare thing, you were screaming." Raph says and Leo and Donnie's eyes widen. "What's with that?"

Mikey looks as if he's about to give an excuse, but the look his brothers were giving him seemed to let that thought die down.

Mikey looks down and scoots even closer to Raph, leaning on him for comfort. Raph puts an arm around him, assuring him that it's okay.

"Well, you know how I died first?" Everyone seems to stiffen a little but nods anyway. "After I woke up, I may or may not have thought that you guys were dead."

The three older brothers look at each other and then back at Mikey. "What do you mean you thought we were dead?" Donnie asks.

"I woke up and you guys weren't moving, even when I shook all of you. I-I thought th-that meant that you were d-dead and I was so sc-scared and what if you weren't alive? And you weren't breathing and I thought that meant I was actually alone now and I started panicking and _then I started screaming and_ -"

"Mikey. Mikey calm down." Leo says, reaching for his brother's hand and squeezing it. "It's okay. We're here too and we won't be leaving anytime soon, I promise."

Donnie and Raph both nod in unison and they all start to squeeze around Mikey, creating a protective circle around him. "I was just really scared." Is all Mikey says as he snuggles closer to his blanket. "But not as much anymore since, you know, you're all still here and all. I don't know."

They know this routine. The whole 'play it off' game that Mikey seemed to adore. They won't allow it though. Not today.

"Mikey, listen. We were scared too, and that's pretty obvious since we all are here. And it's okay that you're feeling like that. It's a normal thing. So please, don't act like it's nothing." Donnie says, smiling at Mikey.

"We're here for you, little brother." Raph says, letting his own small smile through.

"We'll be here. Promise." Leo says and a silent agreement goes through.

Mikey lets a small smile appear on his face as his eyes start to close. "And that…is why…you're all really…really awesome...even if it's cheesy."

And just like that, Mikey was asleep. Raph rolls his eyes as he follows suit. Donnie smirks as he lets himself fall asleep as well.

Leo looks at his three brothers and wonders how they were comfortable, especially since they were all in an uncomfortable position.

But that was the least of his problems, since he was falling asleep as well. Oh well, he'll deal with it later.

Leo sleeps and wakes up the next day without a nightmare in sight. And he's pretty damn pleased about it.


	2. After The Explosion

**Summary: They did it. Dregg and Newtralizer are gone, but at what cost? (What if Scenario + one shot of "What if Mikey did die when Dregg's ship exploded?")**

" _Look, Dregg's Ship!" Donnie yells, staring in amazement as the ship struggled to escape. It was furiously flying higher and higher as it started to overload, already emitting some blue sparks. It was working, they were winning-_

" _But what about Mikey?!" Wait._

 _Wait._

 _Wait._

 _Mikey._

 _Mikey's still there. He's using too much of the electricity he got. It's going to destroy him. Mikey was going to-_

 _That's why there's blue sparks. Donnie's face pales as he realizes this. Mikey, they gotta get him out of the-_

 _The ship overloads and it finally explodes. Blue sparks go in every direction. Everyone's eyes widen._

 _Little brother? Are you there? What's happening? Why is April frowning?_

 _Little brother. Mikey. Michelangelo. Where. Where is he-_

 _Lightning. Blue lightning. It appears right in front of them and April clings to him and he clings to her as it shoots down. Shoots down from the sky and onto the ground. That's how Mikey appeared before, coming out of nowhere as electricity formed nothingness into Michelangelo. Could it be? Is Mikey-_

 _There's no one there. It was just one of the many sparks that left the ship as it exploded. No. No why. It can't be. Mikey, brother, little brother, where-_

 _Where are you?_

 _Come back._

 _Right now._

 _This isn't funny._

 _Please._

* * *

Mikey won't come back and they knew it. Even before Bishop confirmed he wouldn't, they already knew. Mikey is gone. He had saved them, using whatever strength and energy he had to left to use it on the Newtralizer to give them enough time to escape and to overload the ship with too much energy. The electricity that coursed through his entire being that Bishop had warned him would destroy him had finally done him in.

They can't do anything, Bishop says. Even if they tried now, it would be too late. He supposed that the efforts Mikey had given were when he was already at his weakest point, only able to exert that much energy when he could already feel himself disintegrating from the inside. It would have been slow and it could have been stopped, but Mikey had used too much energy in such a short amount of time that his body, which was already struggling to cope with the foreign energy inside of him that had come so suddenly, had finally overloaded and, together with the ship, blew up with it, spreading whatever energy he had yet to release, which explained the blue sparks.

How Mikey had managed to get himself to appear in front of all of them on that alley when they were sure they were doomed, Bishop didn't quite know, theorizing that Mikey had disintegrated from Newtralizer's electricity, but managed to force some of it to bring him back into a Mikey shape and to appear before them, ready for battle.

Donnie felt pretty sure it had hurt Mikey when he forced himself to appear before them, good as new, almost as if they didn't think he was dead for at least half an hour. After all, Mikey wasn't the only one to be torn apart from the fabric of reality, become tiny molecules lost in the vast space of other molecules, and then proceeded to force itself to become turtle shaped once more.

But he didn't say that. Of course he wouldn't. Not now. Not ever. They don't need that. It's already bad enough as it is.

They all go. They all go back to the lair. Karai follows them, her head hung low, so does Y'Gythgba and G'Throkka. Bishop left when G'Throkka had told Y'Gthgba that she could stay on Earth and he had intervened, earning a broken robot head from Raphael who was already too angry for the day and didn't want any more losses. Bishop would have still not allow it, but the miserable faces of the group made him decide to tell them on a better day. If there would ever be another one.

Leo had said that there should be a proper funeral, all for their little brother. But when they had thought of burying Mikey, they realized that the universe couldn't even be kind enough to let them see their brother one last time. Not even in death could they be spared at least a small bit of comfort. Mikey's body was gone, never to be seen again, especially from the fact that it had most likely disintegrated.

So burying Mikey was out of the question, all they had were merely pictures of him and the extra nunchucks he had should the first pair suddenly break. Even the original pair were gone, each on the pockets on Mikey's belt made for such weapons, vanishing with him.

The pictures. They were all different, but one thing they shared was the fact that Mikey was always smiling in them. From their first mutation day until their latest one, each one contained Mikey smiling, whether gentle or goofy or warm or cheeky. He smiled so much in each picture, it almost seemed mocking, as if reminding them that they were never going to see that smile again.

When they got back to their lair, they all stayed in the kitchen, where the table they were going to discuss on waited for them. They refused to go to the pit, seeing as that was where Mikey had spent most of his time using the TV or reading comics or playing video games, a happy smile on his face, unknown to him what the future holds. Donnie refused to go to the lab since that was where he, Raph, Mikey, April, Bishop, and Y'Gthgba had made a plan to break into the ship which, eventually, led Mikey to his ultimate fate of fighting the Newtralizer and dying as he saved his family, an expression of sheer determination unlike any other they've seen before on his face.

Sure, this place held its fair share of memories, Mikey cooking breakfast for them, their first mutation day was celebrated here, Ice Cream Kitty-

Ice Cream Kitty. The little ice cream cat was still here, expecting the return of her beloved owner, the one who had saved her when she had first mutated and the one who had gladly welcomed her in when April had found her. Ever since ICK lived inside the freezer, she always waited for Mikey to come every day, feeding her ice cubes and petting her always before leaving. If Mikey couldn't for some reason, he would always beg the others to do so and, seeing as they didn't have much choice and really did love their brother, they would always comply with his request. But now, Mikey couldn't do that. He wasn't even here anymore to tell them to keep an eye on her.

 _Look at how much you've left here…_

ICK must have sensed them, because she began mewing happily, scratching the closed fridge door as a way to ask them to open it. (Y'Gthgba and G'Throkka were shocked at first before Leo had quickly explained where and who was making the sound.) It all took them a few moments to organize themselves and they opened the door to see a happy cat made of ice cream staring at them in confusion, expecting Mikey in their place.

ICK looked left and right, then looked at Leo and mewed. _"Where is he? Where is Mikey?"_ the cat seemed to ask. Leo could only look down in sadness and ICK mewed louder and louder, probably calling Mikey to come or at least respond to her desperate calls. But no one answered, but she refused to calm down and mewed even louder, this time echoing around the entire lair.

"That's it." Raph mutters and stands up. He walks up to ICK and glares at her and ICK falters, her mews turn quiet and she looks down, finally realizing that Mikey, the turtle who had vowed to care for her, may never come back.

Raph seems to soften at this, feeling the pain the cat was feeling as well. He petted her sticky head, ice cream melting and dripping onto his hands. She mewed sadly and reached out for Raph's hand. She seemed to melt into the touch because it reminded her so much of when Mikey did it and she almost expected a "Wassup, my little kitty?" to come, but only Mikey ever did that, so none came.

She continued to mew in sadness, as if doing this would truly bring Mikey back, alive and well, a spring on his step, a smile wide on his face. But that wasn't going to happen, because he's gone and they're too late and if they just didn't leave Mikey alone in that _ship-_

Then maybe they wouldn't have had to deal with something like this, merely months since their father had passed.

No one says anything as the cat slowly closes the fridge, leaving them to their own sorrow while dealing with her own.

* * *

Raph finally couldn't handle it. It was just. _Too much_. Too much was happening already and he's had enough of it.

It was only a day before they were going to have a funeral for Mikey, even if they didn't have a body to bury. They were going to do the same thing they did with their father, _even if they don't want to remember-_ They were going to build a small tombstone, a small statue of Mikey, though not detailed, right on top, pictures littering the sides and flowers all around him.

Mikey always did like flowers, Donnie had thought, remembering the times Mikey seemed to enjoy being in the farmhouse when they had the time to enjoy even the smallest of things long ago. He would run to the forest, only to return with a bunch of flowers, each different colors and shades, and would make flower crowns just to put one on their heads to either make them smile or to absolutely annoy them. They tried to make one for him too, but they always ended up falling apart by the time it was finished. (They secretly kept the ones Mikey had made, even when they were completely wilted.)

It was two am when Raph had woken up, unable to completely fall asleep, a nightmare having disturbed his already not peaceful sleep.

 _(Dregg's ship is flying higher and higher and higher. Dregg must have realized his horrible disadvantage once the ship started emitting blue and yellow sparks alike, signifying that he had to get out as fast as possible or face death._

" _Look! Dregg's ship!" Donnie yells and Raph looks up to watch it go and he's slack jawed as he watches the ship overflow with energy._

" _But what about Mikey?!" April had yelled as well. And realization dawns on brother's face. Raph feels realization smack him as well and he's about to yell Mikey's name and-_

 _The ship explodes in a blaze of blue sparks, signifying the fact that Mikey had won the battle and Newtralizer and Dregg was surely dead._

 _So, if that's the case, where is Mikey?_

 _Raph looks left and right, expecting his brother to appear out of nowhere just like he did a little before this whole shitshow started, but nothing happened._

 _There was only silence._

 _Suddenly, a blue flash of light appears before them and he covers his eyes with his arm from the blinding light, everyone following suit. Mikey wasn't there._

 _Raph frantically looked around, but no one stood before them._

 _Mikey. Mikey was gone. He was too late._

 _Just as Raph was about to panic more, everything goes black, even the floor he stands on is black. Raph turns around and there, right there, is his father staring back at him. Raph was about to react but the Shredder came out, blades going through his father and Raph screams. He was too late._

" _April, please." Raph faintly hears Donnie say. He turns around again only to see Donnie hovering above them and April hovering even higher. An aura of blue circles around her and Donnie and her hand is out, her powers keeping Donnie afloat. Raph knows this. He remembers it clearly._

" _April! Please!" Donnie begs as an aura of blue surrounds him as well and he realizes what's about to happen. His words were useless to the creature that had April's body, each one going past the creature's ears._

 _April's hand closes._

 _Donnie's whole body blinks a few times and he splits into so many pieces and he's too late again._

 _The scene changes and this time they're all in April's apartment. Kirby is on the couch, and he sees himself being hugged by Mikey as he pats his little brother's head. April comes to hug Casey as they both stop hugging._

" _Casey! I was scared I lost you forever." April says in a relieved tone. Casey returns the hug she gave him._

" _No worries, Red. Your man is here." He says and smiles._

" _Ugh." Donnie says. "Not to break this up, but Leo is still out there!"_

" _What?!"_

" _Long story, bro, basically-"_

 _As if in slow motion, Leo is thrown through April's window. And as they stare in shock, everything goes back to normal and Leo hits the coffee table and they get a better view of him, scarred and unconscious._

" _Leo!" Is all Raph can say but he already knew: He was too late._

 _More and more scenes like this appear: Leo dying for a short while in space while Donnie uses his bo staff given to him by Honeycutt to restart Leo's heart, Donnie repeatedly being electrocuted by the helmet on his head before Mikey can take it off, Mikey being thrown by Snakeweed to the other side of the sewer, knocking him out._

 _Stop. Stop it. Stop stop stop stop stop it stop-_

Raph wakes up.)

Raph wasn't completely sure on what he should do, but he decided the best thing to do right now, with sleep out of the question, was to let some steam out.

He left his bed and trudged over to the punching dummy. He made it, but he didn't do anything. He only stared at it, the weapons that stuck out of it gleaming in the lair's light. He was so angry- _so angry_ \- but he didn't know what to do. Punching this thing just seemed so…useless right now. It's not like anything's going to change if it does. And that's what makes his blood boil.

He doesn't know what to do. He wasn't in control of the situation. He couldn't stop his brothers from getting hurt. He couldn't even save Mikey when he needed him the most. Why though. Why is this all happening? A family of five was down to four before, but the universe seemed to hate them enough to down them to three. And in such a short time.

 _Ha ha ha. Really fucking funny._

Suddenly, someone is holding his hand tightly and he turns around and it's-

It's not Mikey. It's just Leo, a worried expression on his face. Raph's only realized now that the dummy was on the floor, torn to shreds, stuffing sticking out in random places. His breathing is fast as well and his hand was shaking.

"Raph." Leo starts as Raph's breathing slowly starts to even out. "Are…you okay?"

He laughed bitterly and Leo's looks so much more worried than he usually looks. ' _Am I okay?'_ "Fucking great, Leo. Peachy."

Mikey was dead. Their little brother is gone. How could he be okay? Bad enough their father is dead, but their brother? They were together first. They were together even before Splinter had adopted them, even before they were mutated. And taking that away from him was too much.

 _Too. Much._

Before he knows it, Leo drags him back to his room, orders him to go to bed, and leaves.

Raph doesn't sleep that night.

* * *

The funeral was held the next day.

Casey and Shini had learned of Mikey's death and they had come, mourning for the turtle as well. Even Renet had found them, learning that Mikey had passed when history had apparently changed. It wasn't supposed to happen, she had said, but it did and they couldn't change it, fearing that the results would be even more disastrous if they did.

Leatherhead, Mikey's best friend, had learned of this as well and he had come to the funeral along with the other Mutanimals, grieving for the loss of his friend, the only who one of the turtles who had understood him when he had first encountered them.

Even Ice Cream Kitty had come in a bowl Mikey used to carry her. She had mewed sadly, touching the photo of Mikey smiling so wide that it probably hurt. Raph had taken the picture, his hand not seen in the picture as he took it with the camera of his own phone.

As the day goes by, the anger that had grasped them all seemed to boil. There was a photo of Mikey and right beside it was a photo of Splinter. Two family members, gone, all because they couldn't stop them from going past the point of return.

If Leo had told his brothers of the things their father had told him, and only him, maybe they could have kept a closer eye on him and this future where he wasn't in wouldn't have happened. If one of them had told Mikey to just get out of that ship and convince him, Mikey would be back at the lair, pizza in hand, Ice Cream Kitty on the other, watching whatever they had on TV.

No one says anything at the end thought. And slowly, they all disappear. They go back to their normal lives.

Or at least, they _try_ to.

* * *

Donnie is the second one to feel the weight of what's just happened.

At first, it was silent. He had repressed whatever emotion tried to get out, deciding to be strong for his family now that Mikey's death was surely permanent. But that meant that he didn't really have much time to be sad, sad like Leo and Raph, sad like Leatherhead, sad like April and Casey

But all the worse things happened at once.

It was only days after the funeral and Donnie was working in his lab, making sure that the home they had, the only one they had, was safe, fixing and fixing and _fixing_ anything and everything he felt would break anytime, even when it was brand new.

As he tried to fix a broken invention he had made that, he had theorized, could make them invisible. He had gotten the idea from Bebop who had a button that made him possible, so if he could amplify that power, he could use it to possibly hide the lair. He wouldn't know what to name it though, _Mikey always-_

 _No. Stop it. Don't. Don't think about him anymore-_

 _He's gone._

As if on cue, the invention started making buzzing noises and before Donnie could get away from it, it exploded, blue sparks filling the whole lab. One makes it to his hand and it gives a small tingling feeling buzzing through his hand. And Donnie suddenly realizes-

Blue. The sparks were blue. They were the same blue Mikey's were, the same one that he had used to destroy that fucking _ship-_

And suddenly, Donnie's eyes widen as he now realizes that _he_ was the only younger brother now and _he_ didn't have anyone to call his own youngest brother, because that one was _dead_ and he wasn't coming back-

 _-and it's just like realizing that their father was dead and they had nothing to bring him back-_

 _-and Mikey was gone and they were powerless against it-_

 _-and that's so much to think about at such a short amount of time-_

-and Donnie punches the wall and _screams_.

He screams and screams _and screams and screams-_

Because it's all he could do, they were too late, and that was it and that wasn't _fair_ why does Mikey have to go? He hadn't done much to be the first to go and leave all of them in the dust and that was just so so _so annoying-_

 _Not fair not fair not fair not fair not fair not fair notfairnotfairnotfai notf a ir-_

And then he stops. He just. Stops. He doesn't feel anything anymore and he just sinks down on the lab's floor and he sobs.

And then that's it. He stands up and then cleans the small mess he had made.

No one heard him. They had all gone out to patrol, except for Donnie who had said he just needed some more downtime. Leo and Raph didn't say anything, still feeling the loss of another member of the family and understanding why Donnie needed time to be alone. They left, and Donnie was left on his own.

He cleaned the lab, scrapped whatever the hell he was trying to make, rubbed at his eyes until he was sure they looked normal enough, walked over to his room, and laid down on his bed.

He knew. He knew that they can let it go and move on. But, _god_ , when? When Splinter had passed, they had all grieved together, woke up from nightmares screaming, and locked themselves up, refusing to let anyone know they were still so shocked and miserable.

But that was for another time and frankly, Donnie felt too tired to care anymore. So he slept, and that was it.

* * *

Leo is the final one to snap.

It was over half a year when Mikey had passed. They had all, in a way, moved on, even if most of those days still contained nightmares and suddenly expecting Mikey to appear out of nowhere.

They had failed a mission that day and it had ended with all of them wounded and upset. Raph and Leo argued and Donnie stood out of their way.

Leo hadn't realized it until now, but Mikey was always there to try and calm them down, even if it was hours after a fight. That or he tried to aim Raph's anger at him so that he'd leave Leo alone through water balloons or weird questions.

The moment they got back to the lair, Leo had slammed his door shut, his blood boiling, leaving his two brothers outside. He growled and punched his wall, put his back on it, and slid down it. He put his hands on his head, groaning.

Silence. Leo was starting to hate it. The lair is never quiet, so why now?

Mikey. Mikey wasn't there to fill up the silence and he hated it.

"You know…it was really hard to move on." Leo said to particularly no one, looking up at the roof of his room. "It was quiet all the time. No one said anything. There was literally no noise, you could hear a pin drop."

"Karai and Shini came to the funeral. Karai looked really upset, Shini too. They didn't say anything. I don't think they felt like they had a place to."

"Casey and April were sad too. April saw you as a little brother. Casey thought you were cool enough to hang out with. I think April was crying, I don't know, can't remember."

"Leatherhead. Leatherhead was really sad. You were his first friend he told me. You know, apart from the kid who took care of him. You should have seen him, he looked so tired, miserable too. I think he said something. I think it was about you being friends and how much he was going to miss you and that you didn't deserve this. Hah, we all thought that too."

"Ice Cream Kitty didn't wanna leave your grave. She was so furious when we picked her up, with the bowl of course. She mewed and hissed all the way back. I think she still misses you. We open the fridge and then she suddenly perks up, like she thinks it's...but it's not."

"If you can hear me, I miss you little brother. I really do." Leo says and he fills his eyes starting to sting. "I know we didn't hang out as much as you probably wanted us to, and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so…"

He can't. He can't do this anymore. He finally breaks down, dissolving into nothing but tears and regret. So he cries and cries and cries until he can't. Why did they have such bad luck? Bad enough they couldn't be accepted by others so easily, but this. _Really? Was it that funny to play with them?_ Breathing becomes harder as his thoughts whirr crazily and his door opens and then…are those voices? Who are they? Why-

"Leo. Leo. Hey, Leo." Donnie says and _when did he get here? Was that Raph beside him? What?_

"You okay, Leo?" Raph asks and he looks so concerned.

Leo bitterly laughs. Wow. He hated that question.

No one says anything, and they all sit down. Three teenagers, tired and realizing that all their years, the ones spent enjoying being fifteen or sixteen or seventeen or whatever was pulled out from under them and they were instead forced to fight a war they never signed up for.

Jeez, life really is a bitch.

After a few more minutes, they stand up and they start walking out the door but-

A frame falls from his drawer and the glass makes a _crash_ noise, letting them know that it was pretty much broken now.

They all turn around to look at it. That was impossible. There wasn't anything here to let that happen. He didn't move it and there wasn't wind in here. Could it be?

"Mikey?" Donnie whispers. Leo grabs for the frame and turns it around.

It was a picture of the four of them, taken a day before they first went topside. The Tphone still wasn't made that time so they had opted to use Splinter's camera that he had used to take a picture of all of them when they were younger.

A piece of paper falls out of the frame, Leo grabs it (When did it get there?) and his eyes widen.

It's Mikey's handwriting, but the words were slightly hard to read, seeing as it seemed rushed.

' _Hey guys,_

 _So, if you found this letter, that definitely means I'm probably not here anymore. Kinda sucks huh?_

 _I don't know when you guys are gonna see this thing, but please do me a favour. Don't be that sad, okay? It'll be okay. I'll miss you all. Thanks for all the good times._

 _Your awesome electro bro, Mikey.'_

It was dated at the same day he had passed away. That meant he knew. He knew he might die. He probably thought that something like this would have happened, so he wrote a letter. Raph remembered seeing him writing something, but he didn't think it would be this, his final goodbye.

They all close their eyes and let the feeling of grief consume one more time. And then they exhale.

"Come on." Leo says, a small smile on his face. "Let's go, dinner isn't going to cook itself."

And they'll all leave, a small smile on each face. And somewhere far away, someone else is smiling, proud of what their family is now and maybe they would have changed something, like the whole being dead thing, but it's okay now. They'll be fine.

Eventually.


End file.
